According to Reuters, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan claimed victory in the national elections on Friday. He stated that his political party had emerged as the largest in the vote and would discuss forming a coalition government.
Sharif did not reveal the number of seats his party had won, as the counting was still ongoing for the last few of the 265 seats that were up for grabs in the election.
The most recent count released by the election panel indicated that his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had won 61 seats, significantly below the 133 seats required to claim the formation of a government.
Sharif acknowledged that his party alone did not have enough seats to do so. However, he stated that his deputies would be meeting with leaders of other parties later in the day, including former president Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party, to discuss the formation of a coalition government.
(Reporting by Islamabad bureau; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by YP Rajesh)
